The 24-year-old man who was allegedly found with three kilogrammes of cocaine in his suitcase at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Tuesday appeared before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday, and claimed that the driver of the car which took him to the airport had transferred his clothes from a bag to the suitcase.
Timothy Rebello Badal of 193 Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown initially pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking when it was read to him by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton.
It is alleged that on November 25 at CJIA, Timehri, Badal had in his possession three kilogrammes of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.
Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) Prosecutor Oswald Massiah told the court that on the day in question the accused was about to board LIAT flight number 4778 to Barbados.
A suitcase, which was checked in earlier by Badal, was scanned and appeared to contain some suspicious objects. As a result the accused was prevented from boarding the aircraft and he identified the suitcase as his.
Further, Massiah said, in Badal’s presence a detailed search was carried out by CANU officers on the suitcase and the alleged substance was found concealed. The man was arrested and taken to CANU Headquarters.
Massiah informed the court that while in CANU’s custody the accused offered an explanation to the officers. Badal, Massiah said, had stated he was taking the suitcase containing the substance to Barbados. On arrival in Barbados, the accused told CANU, he would have removed his personal belongings from the suitcase and handed it over to a taxi driver who would then have given him US$7,000.
In his explanation to the court, Badal said he did not know that the suitcase contained drugs. The accused said he was just transporting the suitcase to Barbados so he would have an opportunity to get a job when he got there.
“When I was at the airport,” Badal explained, “I didn’t know it was drugs in the suitcase until a CANU officer took me to the suitcase and asked if it belonged to me. I told them yes.”
According to Badal, he had spoken to a friend from Barbados who told him that he would be able to get a job for him there.
“He tell me that it gon make things easy for me travelling for the first time. That is why I take the opportunity because I was going there to get a job,” Badal insisted.
The man further told the court that on the day in question he put his clothes into a bag and a car picked him up at his home. According to Badal, the man in the car took his clothes from the bag and packed them into the suitcase. He repeated to the magistrate that he didn’t know cocaine was in the suitcase.
Magistrate Octive-Hamilton then informed the accused that officials at the airport would always ask whether you had packed your own suitcase. She told the man that there was a reason for that question being asked as it served to remind individuals about the risk they placed themselves in when they did not pack their own luggage.
At this point, attorney-at-law Euclin Gomes entered appearance for the accused and informed the court that his “client wished to change his plea to not guilty”.
According to Gomes, at the time Badal pleaded guilty he was unrepresented and he did not know the consequences of that plea. Gomes did not make an application for bail.
“Justice is all about fairness in this court,” Magistrate Octive-Hamilton stated after granting the attorney’s application for a change of plea.
Badal was remanded to prison and he has to appear at the Providence Magistrate’s Court on December 5.
do these mules think that magistrates are stupid, even a nursery school kid would not believe him.
heheheh…………he knew quite well cocaine been in there.Anybody paying me US$7,000 for a suitcase gotta be smoking the white lady………so to speak!!!
A real JIMMY-COCK and RAM GOAT story eh!
Wow you turn a mule and you don’t know ,well tell the judge who bought your ticket for you and who is the taxi driver.
I am not sure if I should be laughing at the excuses or wonder if this ‘mule’ sniffed some of his ‘goods’ before he was questioned by CANU. From since when people are being paid US$7,000.00 for fetching bags, you would not even get GY$7,000.00 for doing that. Send this one to jail now for 10 years, I would not mind if he spends more. He is suffering from a combination of cronic illnesses, an acute infection of stupidity and the parasitic bacterial infection of get-rich-quick have consumed his brain. Let him go straight to jail, do not pass go or collect US$7,000.00, go directly to Camp Street.
lol, lol, lol, lo,
that was so funny. lol
this fella taking bull how can someone of sound mine tell this story why would somebody give you $7000 us for a suitcase and you not ? it. you are not telling the truth. well i feel good that he get caught another drug dealer gone down.
We note that Badal was remanded to prison but were not told if it was the BRICKDAM HILTON. Let us hope it was!!!
Malaysia has the death penalty for drug-trafficking for very good reason and the Guyana government should learn from Malaysia’s lesson and enact similar laws.
We read the sad story today of Berkley Hollingsworth who died trying to do a PROPER job at Mahaica scheme and yet evil people like Badal will just serve a prison term and be able to see the light of day again.
Life is just not fair sometimes.
Hold it Satish…hold it!
If you want to enact Malaysia Laws, then start with the enactment of total
discipline, with lashes for non-compliance.
Then…only then after a while, think of the more severe penalties.
First discipline…then compliance …then…welll you mioght not have to go further
for by then the message would be clear to all…comply
I dearly hope it was the Brickdam Hilton
….how old is this BADAL guy ? ah mean ,, how old do u have to be to know that ,,
being paid seven grand USD just for delivering this suitcase from point A to B in his name is a courrier’s — in his case ,, a mule — dream !,,,,,
did he think it was gold ,, or stacks of US currency ,, or perhaps diamonds ,, the ammount of currency in stacks ,, would be quite a bulk for the weight ,,, 6 lbs 6 ozs ,,, the equivalent of the former,, gold on the other hand would be less bulk ,, and so too would the diamonds ,, but the concentration of the weight would make the suit case unevenly balanced and easily detected ,,
was he even a little bit disturbed that the driver would choose him ?,, the reason he was chosen ,, is to be the sacrificial lamb,, the fall guy ,, while the more than 50 lbs may have gone past the “security” some of whom may have already been paid for their collusion ,,, there is a pattern ,, the staggering of the days with quantity ,, and gender of the mule is to allow the circus to continue ,, showing the cops to be on top ,, the drug dealers know that to get thru they have to keep finding a mule to be sacrificed ,, with no more than 6 lbs = 3 kilos ,,
when ever the fall guy/girl is caught ,,, he/she will be held with no more than 3 “keys” !,,,,,
the drug trade is no different biz to any other legit biz ,, they all know ,,, legit or not ,, biz is calculated with a % of loss !,,, to appease the authority ,, they have to contend with the loss ,,
no matter what the plan to stop the cocaine from point A to B ,, who ever is trusted to over see ,, will be compromised from the element of GREED !…..
finnese must be employed to skin the cat !…. and of course there is in this,,, multiple choices ,, one of which is the subtlety of the element of surprise !
dem bajans ,, know that to maintain their economy ,, they have to make the tourists “happy” this is peak season for the bajan economy ,, do i need to complete this pic ???????????????????????????? it’s the nature of the beast ,, it MUST be fed !………… dem bajans know abt the cocaine moving from their hub to europe,, america and,, canada ,, in all of this ,, GUYANA has to be innovative in their strategems for the lessening of the movements of the drug ,,
notice i said “lessening” ,,, cos it will “never” stop !
the only way i see any govt having control of this phenomenon is to legalise both ganja and cocaine or,, all narcotics ,, that is illegal now ,, and then tax the dealers out of business !……. coca plants in Bolivia is a national product ,, protected by the govt !……
Michael made some good points but i will never agree to legalise drugs-For the sake of our kids drugs should never be legalised and bolivia should be sanctioned for having a plant as its symbol whose only purpose is to get cocaine from it.
SACRIFICE THE BADALS SO THAT THE WILLIAMS CAN GO FREE -ITS ALLL IN THE CARTEL GAME PLAN
JAIL HIM AS A DETTERENT TO OTHERS
The very first line of the article states he is 24 years old.
Michael you sound like you believe the mule to be innocent…I wonder why?
And please rememba that dem Bajans in keeping their tourist happy,are finding employment for your Guyanese brothers and sisters,so please say “Thank you Bajan”
This guy really think people are as stupid as he is. they will pay him $7,000
US dollars for this and he does’nt know it’s drugs. I dont believe him, and even if I did he is still guilty. He should be jailed for a very long time.In the interest of the future of the younger generation in GUYANA, we have to take these people off the streets, and build bigger jails. We have a lot of land, dont built in the city, Built the jail in the middle of no where, where the reptiles roam.
may be he has no brain.
Good work canu, and badal you know fully well what’s was in the suitcase, if you hadn’t been caught it would be another story. Do the crime do the time that simple.
I don’t think Badal will be reading any newspapers wherever he is
i guess they really got a slow one to transport for dem this time (scapegoat). he must have been living in Timbucktu and don’t read de new paper or even watch television. Cause, for him to tell a story like that this day and age, he must really be ignorant and misinformed.
wat a bunch of balooneys. send him 4 his vacation 2 jail.